Groupware Research Articles

Building locally anchored implementation science capacity: the case of the adolescent HIV implementation science alliance-supported local iS alliances.

The Fogarty International Center-led Adolescent HIV Implementation Science Alliance (AHISA) supports region-/country-specific implementation science (IS) alliances that build collaborations between research, policy, and program partners that respond to local implementation challenges. AHISA supported the development of seven locally-led IS alliances: five country-specific (i.e., Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia), one in Central and West Africa, and one with youth researchers. This article outlines the aims, activities, and outcomes of local alliances, demonstrating how they enhance sustainable IS activities to address local challenges. We conducted a desk review of each alliance's funding applications, reports, and data from the initial findings of a larger AHISA evaluation. The review analyzes common approaches, highlights their local relevance, and summarizes initial outcomes. The local alliances have a common goal: to expand implementation of successful interventions to improve adolescent HIV. We identified four overarching themes across the local alliances' activities: capacity building, priority setting, stakeholder engagement, and knowledge dissemination. Research capacity building activities include long-term mentorship between junior and senior researchers and short-term training for non-research partners. Setting priorities with members identifies local research needs and streamlines activities. Alliances incorporate substantial engagement between partners, particularly youth, who may serve as leaders and co-create activities. Dissemination shares activities and results broadly. Local IS alliances play a key role in building sustainable IS learning and collaboration platforms, enabling improved uptake of evidence into policy and programs, increased IS research capacity, and shared approaches to addressing implementation challenges.

Enhancing collaborative online learning in higher education: using Google Docs to analyze Literature texts by teacher trainees

The purpose of this project was to explore how collaborative learning can be enhanced through Information Communications Technology in the critical reading and analysis of Literature texts in a particular teacher training course at a selected university in Uganda. The study undertook an interventional research approach whereby critical literacy principles provided the basis for formulating online tasks that would provoke higher order thinking skills such synthesizing, analyzing, reasoning, comprehending, application, and evaluation during the discussion of the play The Lion and the Jewel. A conversational framework was adopted to design a collaborative learning environment by which face-to-face sessions were combined with technology in form of Google Docs. Some of the steps of engagement included identifying the eight participants, sharing of initial content on critical literacy with them, face-to-face sessions and uploading of tasks. The findings reveal that with systematic instructions and guidance Google Docs can provide a collaborative learning platform whereby students can continuously comment about Literature texts in a conversational manner; the intervention proved the possibilities of flexibility in the learning environment; and dialogic teaching especially when discussing Literature texts was greatly enhanced during this intervention. This study was carried out in a real time learning context during the teaching of one of the researcher’s courses. The finding thus can offer some useful guiding steps as benchmarks for actual take up of other ICT tools in teaching and learning in higher institutions of education

Utilizing peer evaluation as a collaborative learning tool: fostering autonomy satisfaction in English presentation classes

Abstract The present two-phased sequential explanatory mixed-methods research investigates first and second-year Japanese university students’ perceptions of peer evaluation through self-reflection and its relation to learner autonomy satisfaction in English presentation activities. First, the qualitative data were collected through an open-ended survey questionnaire (n = 17). The findings revealed that students held a positive view of the peer evaluation process, which was facilitated by structured evaluation criteria developed collaboratively with the students using the Leaderful Classroom Practices framework. Furthermore, students’ ownership of the evaluation process enhanced their motivation and commitment to their own presentations. To explore the relationship between the peer evaluation process and students’ autonomy satisfaction, we conducted a survey with advanced-level first-year English major students (n = 87). Despite the small sample size, our multiple regression analysis also supported the qualitative findings, indicating a significant correlation between peer evaluation and learner autonomy satisfaction in English presentation activities. While peer-based activities have been thoroughly studied in the context of academic writing courses, we recommend that the influence of peer evaluation activities on learner autonomy satisfaction be further explored in oral communication activities within the Japanese university EFL settings.

Effect of different electric stimulation modalities on pain and functionality of patients with pelvic pain: Systematic review with META-analysis.

Pelvic pain is located in the anterior abdominal wall, below the umbilical scar. Its treatment includes pharmacological therapy, which can cause adverse effects and is not always sufficient to control symptoms. Thus, the use of adjunct therapies such as electric stimulation has been suggested. Therefore, this review intends to appraise the literature on the effectiveness of electrostimulation in the treatment of pelvic pain. The search for studies was conducted until April 2024 in PubMed, Cochrane Library, ScienceDirect, SciELO, PEDro, CINAHL, BVS, Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar databases using a combination of Mesh terms "Electric Stimulation" and "Pelvic Pain." Risk of bias assessment and meta-analysis were performed with The Cochrane Collaboration tool (RevMan 5.4). Quality of the evidence was assessed with GRADE tool. From the 3247 studies found, 19 were included. In the qualitative analysis, seven studies showed TENS, electroacupuncture, PTNS, and tDCS reduced pain intensity, one study on PTNS showed increased quality of life, and one on tDCS showed improved functional performance. However, in the meta-analysis, only TENS showed efficacy for the reduction of acute pelvic pain and primary dysmenorrhea. Our results indicate that there is moderate-quality evidence for TENS to reduce pain intensity in primary dysmenorrhea and low-quality evidence for the same outcome in acute pelvic pain. Randomized controlled clinical trials with larger sample size and with better methodological quality are needed to establish the effectiveness of other forms of electrical stimulation in pelvic pain.

The current status and improvement directions of legal rules regarding Chinese national gene banks for farm animal genetic resources.

A gene bank for farm animal genetic resources (FAGR) is an important facility for the diversity conservation of FAGR. The primary purpose of gene banks for FAGR is the reconstruction of those breeds. With the advent of the post-genomic era, gene banks for FAGR have increasingly become an infrastructure for the support of livestock research and animal breeding, and a platform for international research collaboration. China is one of the richest countries in the world in terms of FAGR. Chinese National Gene Banks for FAGR (CNGBFs) have an important legal status and play an important function in the Chinese FAGR protection system. In this paper, we reviewed the current situation of CNGBFs construction, and systematically collected and analyzed legal rules related to CNGBFs. As results, those legal rules were categorized into two types: (a) organization and management, (b) activities. We summarized problems existing in the current legal rules for CNGBFs from three levels: institution, practical operation, and digital development. Improvement directions of legal rules regarding CNGBFs are proposed. They include clarifying the utilization function of CNGBFs and the ownership of FAGR in CNGBFs. Moreover, improving the mechanism of administrative management, rules on domestic and international access and benefit-sharing, and the system of digital sequence information management are also suggested. The improvements in those legal rules will contribute to the appropriate utilization of Chinese FAGR and international collaborations.

EXPLORING MODERN EDUCATIONAL THEORIES: A LITERATURE REVIEW OF STUDENT LEARNING IN THE DIGITAL AGE

This study aims to examine the application of modern educational theories, namely Connectivism, Humanism, Cognitivism, and Constructivism, to the learning process of students in the digital era. Through literature studies, this study traces how these four theories contribute to shaping a more relevant and practical learning approach amid the rapid development of digital technology. The theory of Connectivism emphasizes the importance of digital networks and global access to information, allowing students to learn through social and digital connections. Humanism focuses on developing individual potential, emotional well-being, and personalized learning. Cognitivism highlights mental processes in information processing, reinforced with technology that helps students manage and store information effectively. Meanwhile, Constructivism emphasizes experiential learning and social interaction, which is realized through collaborative tools and virtual simulations in the digital era. This study integrates findings from the relevant literature to provide a comprehensive perspective on how these theories complement each other and can be optimized in a digital-based education system. The conclusion of this study underscores the importance of combining the best aspects of each theory to create an adaptive, flexible, and student-centered learning approach to face the challenges of education in the digital age.

Analysis of in-store crowdshipping in a stochastic dynamic pickup-and-delivery system

AbstractTo meet the increasing demands of home delivery resulting from the proliferation of internet shopping and compounded by the rising expectation of fast fulfillment (often within hours of request), companies seek new delivery methods supported by information and communication technologies. In this study, we consider a dispatching platform with delivery capacity consisting of a dedicated fleet of vehicles complemented by crowdsourced couriers. We consider the crowdsourced couriers to be in-store customers who, upon checking out of the store, declare themselves available to deliver one or more requests from e-shoppers. The role of the collaborative platform is to aggregate e-shopper orders from the participating businesses and then manage the routing for the pickup of the corresponding products at the physical stores and the subsequent deliveries to the e-shoppers’ locations. We model this dynamic stochastic pickup-and-delivery problem as a Markov decision process to represent the uncertainty in the e-shopper requests and in-store crowdshipper appearances. We adapt a real-time insertion method enhanced with a cost function approximation to account for differences in the temporal availability of the dedicated vehicles and in-store crowdshippers. We conduct computational experiments to demonstrate the conditions under which in-store crowdshippers provide a cost benefit.

Stakeholder Perspectives on the Acceptability, Design, and Integration of Produce Prescriptions for People with Type 2 Diabetes in Australia: A Formative Study.

Produce prescription programs can benefit both individuals and health systems; however, best practices for integrating such programs into the Australian health system are yet unknown. This study explored stakeholders' perspectives on the acceptability, potential design and integration of produce prescription programs for adults with type 2 diabetes in Australia. Purposive sampling was used to recruit 22 participants for an online workshop, representing six stakeholder groups (government, healthcare service, clinician, food retailer, consumer, non-government organisation). Participant responses were gathered through workshop discussions and a virtual collaboration tool (Mural). The workshop was video-recorded and transcribed verbatim, and thematic analysis was conducted using a deductive-inductive approach. Stakeholders recognised produce prescription as an acceptable intervention; however, they identified challenges to implementation related to contextuality, accessibility, and sustainability. Stakeholders were vocal about the approach (e.g., community-led) and infrastructure (e.g., screening tools) needed to support program design and implementation but expressed diverse views about potential funding models, indicating a need for further investigation. Aligning evaluation outcomes with existing measures in local, State and Federal initiatives was recommended, and entry points for integration were identified within and outside of the Australian health sector. Our findings provide clear considerations for future produce prescription interventions for people with type 2 diabetes.

COVID Just-in-Time Extension for Community Health Outcomes: A Collaborative Information-Sharing Platform for a School Health Community.

The COVID-19 pandemic challenged school health professionals to navigate a dynamic public health emergency and to stay aware of changing recommendations. This study aimed to determine the value of the COVID Just-in-Time ECHO (Extension for Community Health Outcomes) Learning Series for Schools among participating school health personnel and to describe their ongoing information needs during the pandemic. School health, public health, and education professionals across Colorado participated in this ECHO series. Participants attended 1-hour sessions every 2 to 4 weeks from March 2020 through December 2021 for a total of 34 sessions. Data collection included postsession and postseries surveys assessing what participants found most valuable and what additional information they needed. School nurses represented 113 of 224 participants (50%). ECHO content noted as being the most valuable included epidemiology updates and special topics as chosen by participant input. Postseries surveys identified the value of experiencing shared knowledge among Just-in-Time ECHO participants. Participants identified ongoing needs for information about COVID-19 guidance and risk mitigation in schools throughout the sessions. In postseries surveys, participants reported additional ongoing information needs related to COVID-19 outside schools. This ECHO series delivered reliable and time-sensitive information for school health personnel and school leaders and may provide a useful model for information sharing among education and public health professionals.

Optimalisasi Partisipasi Anggota Koperasi Mahasiswa Melalui Digitalisasi Layanan Serta Potensi Pengembangan Bisnisnya

The demand to transform conventional systems into ones that utilize digital platforms is inevitable. Digital transformation is crucial, especially in the customer service sector, to facilitate transactions for consumers. The opportunity to undertake digital transformation within cooperatives is wide open due to the rapid technological advancements today. The specific objective of this research is to understand how the digitalization of services conducted by student cooperatives contributes to enhancing member participation, and also to identify the potential for the development of student cooperative businesses. This research is conducted at the Student Cooperative of Economics Education in Kendari City, Southeast Sulawesi. Informants for this study consist of cooperative advisors, management members, cooperative members, and alumni who were members of the cooperative. Data collection for this research was obtained through three methods: observation of the research location, interviews with the informants, and literature review. Data reduction, data presentation, and drawing conclusions are the methods used to analyze the qualitative data obtained from interview results. The research findings reveal that the student cooperative management has taken initiatives to optimize member participation, such as developing the "KopmaKu" application, attempting collaboration with third-party cooperative application developers, and working towards implementing Quick Response Code Indonesian Standard (QRIS) as a payment system. Student cooperative business units have significant potential to provide benefits and opportunities for alumni. These cooperatives serve not only as places for purchasing essential items, but also as platforms for collaboration, empowerment, and connections between students and alumni. The student cooperative business units can serve as a strong bridge between students and alumni. Alumni can collaborate with students in various aspects, including the provision of products or services, training, and even funding.

Membangun Komitmen Aktivitas Karyawan Kelurahan Tegal Sari Mandala III Medan di Era Digital melalui Desain Komunikasi Organisasi yang Efektif

Abstract This research aims to investigate the role of technology and digital communication in building commitment to employee activities in Tegal Sari Mandala III Medan Village in the digital era through effective organizational communication design. Employee activity commitment is a key factor that influences organizational performance and success. However, the digital era brings new challenges in building employee commitment through changes in communication and interaction patterns in the work environment. Using a mixed quantitative and qualitative approach, this research combines surveys, in-depth interviews, and participant observation to collect data. The research results show that the effective use of digital communication technology, such as email, instant messaging applications, and online collaboration platforms, has a significant positive relationship with the level of employee activity commitment. The more effective the use of digital communication technology, the higher the level of affective, sustainable and normative commitment that employees have. This research also identified challenges in implementing digital communication technology and effective communication design, such as varying levels of digital literacy among employees. To overcome these challenges, organizations need to provide training and mentoring to employees, as well as adopt an integrated communication approach. In general, this research confirms that efficient organizational communication design, supported by the appropriate use of digital communication technology, can be a key factor in strengthening employee engagement in the digital era. Organizations that are able to optimize the potential of technology and digital communications well will have a competitive advantage in building a team of human resources that is qualified and has a high level of commitment.

Talent Management in the Age of Digital Disruption: Challenges and Opportunities

The rise of digital disruption has fundamentally transformed the landscape of talent management, presenting both challenges and opportunities for organizations. This article examines how businesses are adapting their talent management strategies to cope with the rapid advancements in technology, such as artificial intelligence, automation, and the growing prominence of remote work. The study explores the challenges posed by digital disruption, including the widening skills gap, the need for continuous reskilling, and the increasing competition for top talent in a globalized workforce. On the other hand, digital tools also offer opportunities for organizations to enhance their talent acquisition, development, and retention processes. The use of data analytics and AI-powered recruitment tools, for instance, allows for more efficient and data-driven decision-making in hiring and workforce planning. Furthermore, the integration of learning management systems and virtual collaboration tools facilitates employee development and enables organizations to foster a more agile and adaptable workforce. The article presents case studies from various industries, demonstrating how companies are leveraging digital solutions to overcome talent management challenges while embracing opportunities for growth and innovation. The findings suggest that organizations that prioritize digital transformation and align their talent management strategies with technological advancements are better positioned to thrive in an increasingly competitive and digital-first world.

Introducing palmfungi.org, an integrated fungal-host data platform.

Palm fungi are a diverse and unique group mostly found on Arecaceae hosts. They have been studied for approximately 200 years resulting in a large number of known fungal species representing over 700 genera. The timeline of palm fungal studies could be roughly divided into three phases, based on the methods and frequency of reports. They are the "Historical palm fungi era", "Classical palm fungi era" and "Molecular palm fungi era". In the first two periods, the identification of palm fungi was based on morphology, which resulted in a considerable number of morphological species scattered across the data in books, monographs and papers. With the advancement of molecular techniques, studies on palm fungi accelerated. A large number of new species were introduced in the molecular era, especially from Asia, including China and Thailand. However, there is a necessity to link these three generations of studies into a single platform combining data related to host factors, geography and utilisation. Herein, we introduce the palm fungi website: https://palmfungi.org, an integrated data platform for interactive retrieval, based on palm and fungal species. This website is not only a portal for the latest, comprehensive species information on palm fungi, but also provides a new platform for fungal researchers to explore the host-specificity of palm fungi. Additionally, this study uses palmfungi.org and related data to briefly discuss the current status of research on the distribution of palm fungi populations, showing how palmfungi.org links fungi with their palm hosts. Furthermore, the website will act as a platform for collaboration amongst taxonomists, plant pathologists, botanists, ecologists and those who are interested in palms and their relationship with ecological sustainability.

Use of Lasers in the Nonsurgical Treatment of Peri-Implantitis: A Systematic Review of the Literature.

Peri-implantitis is an infectious disease that causes inflammation of the tissue surrounding an implant. The aim of this systematic review of the literature is to assess the effect of the use of lasers in the nonsurgical treatment of peri-implantitis in order to estimate its benefits compared with conventional therapies. The review's protocol has been registered on PROSPERO international prospective register. The research strategy was performed according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. The inclusion criteria were as follows: in vivo studies, written in English, measurements of clinical parameters, minimum follow-up at 6 months and with nonsurgical control group, studies about photodynamic therapy, randomized clinical trial, and clinical trial. Electronic (on PubMed, Cochrane, Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature, and Report Evidence-based Practice Centers databases) and manual searches (in articles' references) were conducted until July 2021. Risk of bias was assessed for each reference thanks to the Cochrane Collaboration's tool. A total of 12 randomized clinical trials, with a high level of evidence, were selected and investigated in this systematic review. A table summarizes data extracted from these articles. It appears that the parameters improve favorably by using lasers, but without any significant difference. In accordance with the analysis of studies, our results show that laser therapy with specific characteristics allows to obtain beneficial therapeutic effects on wound healing in the short and the medium-term concerning the clinical parameters in the nonsurgical treatment of peri-implantitis. Concerning its long-term usefulness, it has yet to be confirmed. However, its benefits remains limited since the results agree that the effects of the laser are similar to those obtained by using conventional therapy.

Tourism usage of digital collaborative economy platforms in Europe: Situation, behaviours, and implications for the digital policies

This study analyses how the intensity of the use of digital sharing economy platforms has evolved in the European Union in recent years, including during the pandemic, and whether there are differences between European regions. In the digital field, work has begun on regulations and public policies that coexist with different policies in the regions and municipalities. Using spatial econometric techniques, this study provides a comparative analysis of space and time that identifies regional inequalities in terms of the intensity of demand for accommodations offered on digital sharing economy platforms. In particular, different clusters of high-intensity collaborative tourism were detected, and spatial spillover effects and interdependencies between European regions in collaborative tourism were recognised, identifying a positive spatial autocorrelation in the intensity rate of collaborative tourism. The effect of tourist destination saturation on the use of accommodation on these platforms was also observed. Several digital public policy implications were discussed, promoting regulatory coordination at the interregional and pan-European levels to avoid inequalities and imbalances across Europe.

A multi-stage approach for desired part grasping under complex backgrounds in human-robot collaborative assembly

Human-robot collaborative assembly can leverage the unique capabilities of humans and robots to provide a flexible and efficient way for complex tasks. In this context, robots are expected to be endowed with the perception ability to collaborate with humans. For flexible processes, robotic grasping for a desired assembly part from variable multi-parts is essential but remains challenging, especially in situations of complex backgrounds including disordered placement, occlusion, similarity, and large-scale differences in size. To improve the perception and decision-making abilities of robots in collaborative assembly, firstly, a multi-stage approach integrating 2D part recognition and 6D pose estimation with perspective-focusing is proposed for desired part grasping under complex backgrounds. Secondly, to efficiently and accurately recognize a desired part from variable multi-parts under complex backgrounds, based on RGB data, an enhanced detector is adopted, which lays the foundation for the subsequent pose estimation. Thirdly, based on point cloud data, a pose estimation method based on perspective-focusing is proposed to enhance the success rate and efficiency of pose acquisition. Additionally, a modular autonomous robotic grasping system is designed. Finally, taking decelerator assembly as a case, the proposed approaches are comprehensively validated and compared on a real collaborative robot platform. Under complex backgrounds with occlusion, our approach shows stable performance with an average grasping success rate of 90.0 % and an average cycle time of 6.4175 s. Our work is expected to improve robots’ perception and decision-making capabilities while further reducing the cycle time of collaborative assembly tasks.

Preface

Recent advancements in Mechanical Engineering, particularly in areas such as thermo-fluids and system design, have spurred the need for comprehensive discussions on the development of associated sciences and their diverse applications worldwide. This initiative aimed to foster global awareness among researchers, including those who participated in our inaugural conference, ICTFSD 2022, and others from India and abroad eager to join our collaborative platform for exchanging ideas and showcasing local innovations. Thus, the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, Ranchi (India) organized the 2nd International Conference on Thermo-Fluids and System Design (ICTFSD) 2024 on April 4-5, 2024. The conference convened experts from academic institutions, research organizations, industries, and policymakers to facilitate in-depth interactions. Keynote speakers from India, the US, and Europe delivered talks on various applications within these fields. The conference was heavily supported through financial assistance from the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), Government of India. Partial financial support was also received from private partners viz. ANSYS Inc., Entuple Technologies and COMSOL Multiphysics Pvt. Ltd. ICTFSD 2024 aimed to promote industry-relevant research in academic and research institutions, establishing networks for collaborative research and development. It identified emerging research areas while showcasing high-quality papers spanning both emerging and traditional fields. All conference papers underwent rigorous peer review by a technical committee, with select papers earmarked for publication in the Journal of Physics Conference Series, IOP Publications. The conference conveners and organizing secretaries, who also served as Editors of the Conference Series, extend gratitude to the Morressier team and the IOP publications team for helping us in the entire review and publication process. We especially acknowledge the valuable inputs of the expert reviewers for their pivotal role in quality check of the manuscripts. We would like to extend our sincere appreciation to all the conference sponsors, whose financial contributions were instrumental in making the event a success. Appreciation also goes to all researchers who contributed papers and participated in ICTFSD 2024, the eminent guests who took their valuable time to join us in the event, as well as to the faculty and staff of our department whose efforts ensured the conference’s success. Looking ahead, we envision continued success for the ICTFSD conference series. List of ICTFSD 2024 Organising Committee is available in this Pdf.

Dynamic pickup-and-delivery for collaborative platforms with time-dependent travel and crowdshipping

We study a pickup-and-delivery problem that arises when customers randomly submit requests over the course of a day from a choice of vendors on a collaborative e-commerce portal. Based on the attributes of a customer request, a dispatcher dynamically schedules the delivery service on either a dedicated vehicle or a crowdshipper, both of whom experience time-dependent travel times. While dedicated vehicles are available throughout the day, the availability of crowdshippers is unknown a priori and they appear randomly for only portions of the day. With an objective of minimizing the sum of routing costs, piece-rate crowdshipper payments, and lateness charges, we model the uncertainty in request arrivals and crowdshipper appearances as a Markov decision process. To determine an action at each decision epoch, we employ a heuristic that partially destroys the existing routes and repairs them under the guidance of a parameterized cost function approximation that accounts for the remaining temporal capacity of delivery vehicles. We benchmark our real-time heuristic with an adaptive large neighborhood search and demonstrate the effectiveness of our method with several performance metrics. In addition, we conduct computational experiments to demonstrate the impact of inserting wait time in the route scheduling and the benefit of explicitly modeling time-dependent travel times. Through our computational testing, we also investigate the potential of demand management mechanisms that facilitate many-to-one request bundles or one-to-many request bundles to reduce the cost to service requests.

Coastal urban flood risk management: Challenges and opportunities − A systematic review

Generational mechanisms and spatio-temporal evolution patterns of Coastal urban flood risk involve complex interactions between climate change, sea level rise and human-induced factors, necessitating integrated adaptive flood management strategies to mitigate evolving vulnerabilities. This systematic review offers a thorough assessment of the challenges and strategic opportunities for sustainable adaptation in managing flood risk in Coastal urban areas. It integrates emerging innovative technologies and financial solutions to identify promising approaches to implement mitigation strategies and improve Coastal urban flood resilience. Enhancing governance and policy frameworks is crucial for the successful implementation of Coastal Urban Flood Risk Management (CUFRM) plans. An innovative participatory planning framework is developed to promote flood management practices which are socially inclusive and equitable. Funding for green infrastructure and nature-based solutions and the strategic use of public–private partnerships are effective methods for advancing sustainable flood risk management (FRM). The advancements in emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), deep learning (DL), social media and digital twin technologies, provide dynamic and collaborative platforms for simulating flood scenarios and have potential to significantly improve CUFRM practices. In the end, a cross-country comparison of current practices in Australia, China, Netherlands, the UK and the USA reveals a diverse range of approaches and valuable insights derived from regional experiences. The review provides a comprehensive analysis for researchers, policymakers and practitioners aiming to improve flood resilience in coastal metropolitan regions by learning from effective UFRM approaches that enhance governance structures, infrastructure resilience and funding mechanisms.

Assessing the effectiveness of Renzhu Jianwei Granula in managing precancerous lesions of gastric cancer: A meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials

BackgroundRenzhu Jianwei Granula (RJG) is a traditional Chinese medicine compound initially formulated to address precancerous lesions for gastric cancer. The aim of this study was to assess RJG's efficacy in treating precancerous lesions of gastric cancer through a comprehensive meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials. MethodsTwo authors separately conducted an exhaustive search across three databases (PubMed, CNKI and Wanfang) without imposing any restrictions on publication year or language. Eligible studies, spanning from the inception of databases to July 18th, 2024, were included. Valid data were summarized and those with a group size of 3 or more were preserved. R software and Cochrane collaboration tools were employed for sensitivity analysis and assessing the quality of the included studies. The data from selected studies were transformed into risk ratios (RRs) and subjected to meta-analysis. This study was prospectively registered in PROSPERO. ResultsData from 9 studies encompassing 912 participants revealed that the RJG group exhibited superior clinical efficacy compared to the control group, with an RR of 0.36 (95 % confidence interval (CI): 0.25 to 0.52). RJG demonstrated enhanced efficacy over the control group in both comprehensive efficacy (RR: 0.42, 95 % CI: 0.31 to 0.55) and gastroscopy efficacy (RR: 0.56, 95 % CI: 0.46 to 0.69). Moreover, significant improvements in pathological features such as atrophy (RR: 0.58, 95 % CI: 0.45 to 0.73), dysplasia (RR: 0.41, 95 % CI: 0.27 to 0.61), and intestinal metaplasia (RR: 0.54, 95 % CI: 0.43 to 0.69) in precancerous lesions of gastric cancer were observed following RJG administration. ConclusionThis study's synthesized data provide compelling evidence of RJG's substantial therapeutic impact in ameliorating symptoms associated with precancerous lesions of gastric cancer. Trial registration numberThe study protocol was registered at PROSPERO (CRD42024572606)